Japan's Quiet Submarines

choi

Reiji Yoshida, Stealth Tech No Given in Japanese Sub Deal. The Japan Times, Jan 18, 2015.
www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/0 ... -deal/#.VLvT8Va2ppg

Quote:

"Noisy components include fans, pumps, motors and fluorescent lights. Some are carefully muted with vibration-damping rubber

“'The US rapidly built many Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines during the Cold War. Many of them are being decommissioned now,' [retired Vice Admiral 中将 Masao] KOBAYASHI 小林 正男 [who ‘commanded Japan’s submarine fleet [consisting of all submarines] from 2007 to 2009’ 海上自衛隊 潜水艦隊司令官 2007-2009] said."

Note:
(a)
(i) Reiji YOSHIDA 吉田 玲滋 is a man.
(ii) The English word “given” can be an adjective or a noun. In the title, it is a noun.

(b) The Japan Times ジャパン タイムズ (pronounced "Japan Taimuzu") is an English-language (from the outset) newspaper based in Tokyo, launched by Motosada ZUMOTO 頭本 元貞 in 1897 (ja.wikipedia.org: "現存では日本最古の英字新聞社").
(i) Hence this report on submarines does not have a Japanese original. The English one is the original.
(ii) Japanese pronunciation (indigent anyway; that is, not when Japanese people speak English) does not have a diphthong (二重母音 in Japan; 雙母音 in Taiwan).
(iii) diphthong (n; ultimately from Greek diphthongos, from di- + phthongos voice, sound)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diphthong

* The English noun sound is derived from Latin noun masculine sonus sound, from verb sonare to sound.
(iv) Thus, the “Tai” in “Taimuzu”--if pronounced Japanese way, is “ta-i-mu-zu.”
(v) As for the surname Zumoto. In Japan, there are many Chinese pronunciations (“zu” is one) and many Japanese pronunciations (“atama” is one) for the kanji 頭. See
On-yomi and Kun-yomi. Department of East Asian Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Albany SUNY, undated, at pages 3-4.
www.albany.edu/eas/205/on-yomi and kun-yomi.pdf
(vi) At least two kanji--singular and plural of kanji are spelled the same--元 and 本 (基 is another) represents the same sound and meaning of "moto."

choi

(c) “Any fluorescent light generates sound.”
(i) Solid-State Lighting for Submarines. Office of Naval Research, US Navy, undated
www.onr.navy.mil/en/Media-Center ... ing-Submarines.aspx
("Operational bulb life lasts for up to 50,000 hours compared to fluorescent (up to 7,500 hours for the T8W5 fixtures) and incandescent (up to 1,000 hours) bulbs. * * * The existing fluorescent lighting systems aboard submarines and surface warships are maintenance intensive. * * * A request was submitted to Office of Naval Research (ONR) TechSolutions by a sonar technician at the Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Va., to replace noisy fluorescent bunk lights with LEDs")
(ii) acoustic quieting
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_quieting
(one subheading is "Underwater acoustics" under section 2.3 Quieting for specific observers)

does not help.
(iii) I googled, and the noise generated by fluorescent light is “humming.” Yes, some fluorescent light hum, but for a layperson like me, I do not know how a seemingly quiet fluorescent light sounds with sonar.

(d) "Vice Adm Robert Thomas, commander of the US Navy’s 7th Fleet, reportedly said Oct. 24 in Tokyo that then-Australian Defense Minister David Johnston was very interested in Japan’s Soryu-class subs. 'I talked to him about it four years ago and I said: "You want to find the finest diesel-electric submarine made on the planet — it’s made at Kobe works in Japan,"[‘] Thomas was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News."

The quotation is from
Jason Scott and Isabel Reynolds, Australia Mulls Japan Submarines Under China’s Cautious Gaze. Bloomberg, Dec 18, 2014.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-1 ... rehensive-gaze.html
, but there is no need to read the rest of the Bloomberg news.

choi

(e) “'The US rapidly built many Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines during the Cold War. Many of them are being decommissioned now,' [retired Vice Admiral Masao] Kobayashi said."

Los Angeles-class submarines are nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN): Built 1972-1996, In commission 1976-present, Completed 62, Active 40, retired 22 [starting in 1995])  Wikipedia

(f) “Japan soon plans to use lithium-ion batteries to drive the motors in its latest Soryu sub, making them even quieter.”
(i) Sōryū-class submarine 蒼竜型潜水艦
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sōryū-class_submarine
(diesel-electric submarines; fitted with air-independent propulsion based on Kockums stirling engines license-built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries; table: In commission 2009- , Completed 7)

(A) ja.wikipedia.org indicates “四神の一つ青竜の別名である蒼竜”--translation: sōryū 蒼竜 is an alternate name of 青竜 (pronounced “seiryū” in Japan), which is one of the 四神.
(B) shi-jin 四神 【しじん】 (n):
"(1) four gods said to rule over the four directions; (2) (in China) four gods said to rule over the four seasons"
Jim Breen's online Japanese dictionary
(C) 四神
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/四神
("中国の神話、天の四方の方角を司る霊獣である。四獣（しじゅう）、四象（ししょう）ともいう。東の青竜（せいりゅう）・南の朱雀（すざく）・西の白虎（びゃっこ）・北の玄武（げんぶ）である。五行説にも中央に黄竜（書籍によっては麒麟を据える場合もある）を加え数を合わせた上で取り入れられている")

translation: In Chinese mythology, the sacred beasts in charge of four directions. Also known as 四獣 or 四象. They are blue/green dragon in the east, vermilion bird in the south, white tiger in the west, 玄武 (a black tortoise squeezed by a snake) in the north. 五行説 has a yellow dragon in the center--other books has a kirin 麒麟 there)
(ii) Kockums is a subsidiary of Sweden’s Saab Group.
(iii) submarine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine
(section 3.3 Propulsion: 3.3.1 Electric transmission (3.3.1.1 Diesel-electric) and 3.3.2 Air-independent propulsion)

My guess is that even if Japan switches to lithium-ion batteries, that is only the “electric” part/ The “diesel” part will remain, to recharge lithium-ion batteries.

(g) "Teruhiko Fukushima, a professor at the National Defense Academy in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture"
神奈川県横須賀市 防衛大学校 教授 福嶋 輝彦
(i) The surname Fukushima can be 福島 or 福嶋 in kanji.
(ii) shima 島(P[rincipal]); 嶋 【しま】 (n): "island"